Making passive income is a goal many would like to achieve. As this blog has pointed out before, it’s also easier than you may realize. We live in an age where earning extra money on the side doesn’t need to be a far-off dream. Thanks in large part to the Internet, there are more ways than ever to earn passive income.
That leads to an interesting question: If earning extra money without putting in much effort is so easy, why do so few people actually reach this goal?
The answers to this question vary from one person to the next. That said, people often fail to reach the stage where they consistently earn easy money because they never genuinely try to do so in the first place. Despite being called “passive” income, extra money you can make on the side doesn’t come without some degree of work. You need to invest a little time and money to set up a passive income stream. Once you put in the work, you can start earning extra cash without much additional effort.
This step in the process discourages some people. They don’t want to devote the upfront time or funds to a passive income strategy they can’t be certain will deliver results.
A smart way to guard against this discouragement is to study the examples of other people who have succeeded in earning consistent passive income. It’s always important to manage your expectations, and you should not expect to immediately replicate their success. Still, learning about their experiences can help you stay motivated and optimistic as you focus on developing your own strategy.
The following example is particularly worth some consideration. It demonstrates what you can achieve if you’re dedicated, and more importantly, it demonstrates how you can go about turning your passive income dreams into a reality.
What Johannes Larsson Can Teach You About Earning Passive Income
Consider the example of Johannes Larsson. At a mere 25 years of age, Larsson was already earning approximately $400,000 in passive income every year. He did so by creating a website that compares financial products, and earning commissions by selling those products through affiliate partnerships. As Larsson explained to Forbes, although he does have a staff, even if no one worked on the website for months at a time, it would still generate revenue.
It’s important to understand that his story isn’t simply one of luck or even inherent talent. Larsson worked for two years testing, experimenting, and learning about online marketing before making a dime. He created several websites and played around with different ways to earn money from them, trying strategies like affiliate marketing and pay-per-click advertising. He was earning some money, but nowhere near enough to make his efforts worthwhile.
His real success came seven years after he started, when he decided to focus all his energy on one project and make it the best it could possibly be. The crucial point was a mental change: his new venture succeeded because he shifted his mindset when developing it. Rather than trying to make money, he instead focused on trying to deliver real value to customers.
That was almost certainly key to his success. As this blog has pointed out before, sharing valuable information with customers is a smart way to earn extra cash. That information can be delivered through an e-book, online course, podcast, YouTube channel, or, as this example illustrates, a monetized website.
Regardless of how you choose to deliver information to customers, however, it’s crucial that you ensure your product is valuable to your audience. You need to be thorough and accurate. You need to identify a pain point your information can address. You need to be willing to spend enough time on your product to ensure its quality justifies its cost. Quite simply, you need to offer customers something that’s worthy of their money and attention.
Larsson’s story also shows the reality behind the image—he may be making large sums of money and devoting much of his time to relaxation and fun, but he put in the hard work first. (And he still does some work every day.) The success he’s achieved was only possible after years of work, not a few days or even months. His grit and determination saw him through the initial challenges, however, and he came out the other side with a winning passive income product.
What’s more, Larsson’s story also shows you can very successfully earn passive income regardless of your age. Larsson is fairly young to be earning as much as he does without having to work for it full-time. Many his age wouldn’t think this degree of success is achievable. His story clearly proves they are mistaken.
That means you might be similarly mistaken if you assume you can’t earn money on the side. It’s possible you simply haven’t made a genuine effort to yet. Examples such as this should remind you why you may want to reconsider the assumptions that are preventing you from living your dreams.